by Patricia Petty ’77

No one knows for sure when it started or when it finally came to an end,but the tradition of freshmen wearing “beanies”and doing a ritual “buttoning”was a long-held Jewell custom. At least as far back as the early 1920s and as late as the mid 1960s, the incoming freshman class was issued a Proclamation from the Seniors, which, in part, enumerated the various items a freshman must do for a prescribed time. The regulations were primarily addressed to the first-year men, but the women of WJC were also directed to follow certain apparel restrictions. Generally, the time frame in which the beanies were to be worn was from a designated date in September until approximately Thanksgiving break. In part, here are some commandments from the seniors to the freshmen, directing these “untutored individuals to provide themselves with a proper and fitting insignia of their lowly position in the cosmic scheme.”

“It is our command that when the sun has crossed the median by one hour and fifteen minutes on this twenty-first day of September (1928), every freshman shall be capped in green, and that it shall wear this posterior decoration at all places within the environs of Liberty and every day except Sunday, until otherwise notified.

“Furthermore, for the good of William Jewell College,we find it necessary to proclaim the following regulations: The male of the species shall wear his cap at right angles to his vertebral axis both laterally and longitudinally. He shall keep the visor pulled down and shall refrain from making marks upon his cover. He must resort to no mechanical means of holding it upon his head, but will trust completely to the force of atmospheric pressure upon the vacuum beneath. Furthermore, he must religiously guard and preserve his button, and when addressed by a man of the Senior Class he must courteously touch it with his right thumb.A cap without a button is worse than no cap at all.” (When “buttoning,” the hazed freshman would place the thumb of his right hand on the button that was in the center of the beanie and squat down in front of the senior, thus performing the “buttoning” ritual.)

“The females will observe the following rules as prescribed by the Senior girls: From the hours seven in the morning to seven in the evening, Freshman girls shall wear green berets, every day except Sunday. They may be removed in classrooms, restrooms and library.”

Throughout the years, a similar Proclamation was made in the beginning of the school year from the seniors to the freshmen, a copy of which all freshmen were to carry on their persons and be able to quote passages of, if requested, by a senior. Various colors and styles of beanies or “bonnets” for the ladies were evidenced through the years. jewell reflections